


Start Over

by samstoleaburger



Category: Justice League - All Media Types, Justice League 3000
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous Relationships, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, Mending Relationships, acquaintances to friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-03 02:22:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12739071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samstoleaburger/pseuds/samstoleaburger
Summary: "I mean it, Hal." he pressed. "I want to be friends."





	Start Over

**Author's Note:**

> So I was _pissed_ when Barry died twice in 3000 and in the _same volume_ no less, so I'm just gonna leave this here. Teri is still Flash but in the sense of them having two speedsters now. Twice the speed, twice the fun, right?
> 
> Or in short: I read two volumes of 3000, was still angry and upset over Barry dying and this happened as a result. Also, I didn't exactly get the third volume but I'm more or less guessing why Hal is burying himself in books during volume two after they lock up everyone in Camelot's dungeon.

Barry stared at the mirror, blinking every once in a while as he examined his new features. He remembered being a redhead before, prior to Locus dissecting him. In front of his team, no less.  
  
Yet here he was, alive in some sense of the word but he could still feel how the process went. How he was being pulled apart, piece by piece, his nerve endings screaming until his body could no longer handle the strain. Until he died.  
  
The hair color was still wrong. As were his eyes. He could recall how Hal and Bruce looked at him the first time they all woke up. How Bruce was frowning like he disapproved of whatever he saw and Barry knew it was him because he felt Bruce's gaze trail over his face. Hal was a mixture of surprise and inquiry, but Barry saw the joy underneath.  
  
The absolute joy of seeing your best friend once again after so, so long.  
  
It pained Barry to remember how he brushed off Hal's question on them still being friends in the way he had. Cold, cruel and not in any form of the way the _old Barry_ would have. He knew, deep down, that Barry would have smiled and said, "Yes."  
  
He knew that he'd thrown a barb the size of Superman's ego into Hal's heart when he said it and Barry wanted so desperately to remove it. To say that, yes, they were still best friends and that Barry didn't mean what he'd said. Even if his outlook on things was less 'sunnier' than it was before.  
  
Though he'd like to blame that on what they'd been told the second they were debriefed on their resurrection.  
  
Barry paused and scrunched up his face as he rose a hand to run the tips of his fingers over his face. Slow and deliberate. Positive that he'd have the time to settle into his new body before they were possibly called out onto the field once more. He could feel the electricity buzz under his skin, restless and wild. Untamed at best. Just like his thoughts while they ran at a thousand, maybe more, miles per hour. Circling inside his head like a storm.  
  
It made his skin crawl, feeling his temperature ramp up whenever he ran but at the same time, he could feel as if his body was ready to give out at any given moment. Like it wasn't designed for this type of strain. As if it wasn't his to begin with. A child in a man's body.  
  
That was the thing though. It wasn't his body. It was someone else's, a 'volunteer' to the cause.  
  
He remembered Ariel telling him about the process. How he'd _robbed_ someone else of their life. It made his stomach twist into a knot when she'd explained the procedure, bile burning the back of his throat until he had to get out of the room and run. Run, run, run...  
  
The thought had him pause and he lowered his hand once he realized Teri probably felt the exact same way. Albeit for different reasons. Barry pursed his lips as he recalled Bruce telling him how Teri ended up as their second Flash after they escaped Cadmus. He was still shaken over seeing Terry snap her neck with a crazed, deranged smile on his face. As if killing your own sister was perfectly acceptable in any regard. There was a chance that Teri replayed that moment over and over in her head like Barry did his own.  
  
The confusion, the realization that something was wrong, that brief flash of terror before it all ended.  
  
Barry knew that Clark ( _Superman_ , heaven forbid the man stop being so conceited) helping her train was an act of selfless kindness. Even if Clark would deny it when asked. It had been amusing to sit there with Hal and watch the two of them race.  
  
Over and over and over again because Clark couldn't take this bruise to his ego. Though Teri deserved to have her confidence boosted and knock Clark down a peg. Bruce had been so proud when Barry told him how many times Teri got to the finish line way before Clark was even to the halfway point.  
  
Though Hal, for all his amused yet no nonsense on the matter, hadn't stuck around long after the fifth race.  
  
If Barry hadn't known any better, he'd think Hal was tired of watching Clark make a fool of himself. (Even if it was damn funny.) However, Barry knew it was more than just that and he looked away from the mirror as he chewed on his lower lip. He bounced on his heels, looking around his room before he swallowed the metaphorical bullet and made his way to the door.  
  
He had to talk to Hal and apologize for what he'd said. Tell him that he'd make up for it in any way Hal deemed acceptable. Especially after the revelation of the 'Green Cancer' that Ariel told them was slowly but surely killing Hal.  
  
Barry opened the door and stepped out just a foot before a gust of wind breezed by. Faint traces of yellow and red were left in its wake alongside a hurried, "HiBarry.GoingtocheckonAriel.Bye."  
  
He called, "Hi, Teri! Bye, Teri!" after her before she whizzed around the corner. The gust of speed backlash mussed his hair and tangled the short strands a good while before the wind settled. Barry shook his head, ridding it of stray pieces of confetti, which he'd ponder the existence of later, and ran his fingers through his hair to untangle it.  
  
Barry furrowed his brow as he lowered his hands and cast a glance toward where Teri had come from. He remembered Bruce mentioning Hal frequenting the library lately and decided that he may as well start there in his search. If Hal wasn't there then Barry would either wait for him or try and find him by speeding down the halls. With a nod more for his benefit than anyone else's, Barry tore off in the direction of the library.  
  
The trip didn't last long and Barry almost wished he'd actually walked to give himself time to think of a decent apology until he caught sight of Hal's full body construct bent over a book. His features pinched as if he was unsatisfied by what he was reading. It reminded Barry of how he used to feel about inconclusive lab results. How he'd do the same thing over again with different approaches, hoping with all his might that he'd get his answer by the end.  
  
If the piles of books lying near Hal's elbows said anything, Barry was willing to put his money on Hal slowly but surely losing hope.  
  
Well, that wouldn't do. Especially not when Barry felt a pull in his chest, emotions and instincts from long ago resurfacing. The need to comfort Hal, his _best friend_ , making his fingers twitch in response before Barry made his way to the table.  
  
"Hal, I -" Barry shut his mouth the second Hal looked up and felt a lump form in his throat. One that choked him and blocked the words he wanted to say. Simply because Hal looked _so tired_. "I, uh...do you mind if I..." He made a vague gesture to the empty seat across from Hal. "Sit here?"  
  
Hal furrowed his brow and turned his focus to the aforementioned chair before he shrugged. "Go ahead."  
  
Barry mumbled a thanks before he sat down and tapped his fingers on the table. A soft yet quick beat, barely loud enough to distract Hal once he returned his attention to the book. It gave Barry time to think as he absentmindedly skimmed over the titles of the ones Hal had preciously gone through and noticed that more than half were focused on magic.  
  
_Oh..._  
  
"Are you trying to find a way to reverse what Locus did to you?" was blurted out before Barry even realized he'd opened his mouth. He flushed as he clapped a hand over his mouth and looked anywhere and everywhere except for where Hal sat. In absolute, damning silence, no less. Barry ducked his head as he removed his hand and immediately started to ramble, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. It's none of my business. I just saw that -"  
  
"It's fine, Barry."  
  
He shut his mouth and peered up at Hal from under his lashes. "I didn't mean to pry." he reiterated. "I just saw that you have a lot of magic books."  
  
Hal snorted and looked up with a raised brow. "Yeah. I'm trying to find a way to get back to normal without involving Locus." The confirmation eased the tension a bit but it ceased the second Hal frowned. "It's not fun being the size of a hamster and needing to watch what and how much I eat."  
  
"We'll find a way." Barry placed his elbows on the table as he leaned in and picked up one of the books from the smaller pile. He flipped it open as he moved to lounge back in his seat. "I mean, as funny as it is to see you pocket-sized, I don't think it would be good in the long-run."  
  
Hal turned the page, his constructed body's green glow casting an eerie light on the yellowed parchment. "Because of the Green Cancer, right?"  
  
Barry froze, his hand hovering near the page that he was about to turn and felt his normally overheated skin run cold at the statement. How Hal said it in such a concrete manner. Like that's how it is and has accepted it with little to no resistance. Just a fact in life like how the sky is - was - blue.  
  
It was downright unsettling.  
  
"Hal -"  
  
"Listen, Barry..." Hal sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. "You don't need to pretend to care, all right? You were right. We're not who we once were. I mean," He opened his eyes as he lowered his hand and motioned between the two of them, " _us_? _Friends_? That's just stupid. We don't even know each other."  
  
The bitter, self-patronizing laugh Hal let loose had Barry's stomach turn in an unpleasant fashion. Like he wanted to throw up and scream at the same time because _he_ did this to Hal.  
  
"I'm not going to lie, Barry. I was pissed when I found out what Locus did to you." He ran his fingers through his hair, but it looked ridiculous with the construct copying the movement. Though with Hal's distress as clear as day, Barry couldn't find it in himself to laugh at the sight. "You have no idea what I would have done to Terry if he'd gone through with killing you."  
  
Barry's breath caught and he swallowed, his throat clicking at the action. "What...what do you mean...?"  
  
When Hal locked eyes with him, Barry knew at that moment what Hal was implying and a shudder ran down his spine at the thought.  
  
"Hal, no." Barry closed the book and put it on the table, careful not to cause any damage. Even though all he wanted to do was slam it shut, toss it down and grab Hal's shoulders to shake him. "No. We don't...we don't kill."  
  
The only reason he didn't go through with it was because his hands wouldn't be touching cloth covered flesh. He wouldn't be touching and reassuring Hal. It would be a construct, willed and imagined to be Hal's bodily replacement on the team. To hide how he's shrunk unless someone was actually looking.  
  
"You have no idea how easily I would have said, 'Fuck it,' to that rule. Hell, the Princess and Superman have." Hal snorted at the incredulous look on Barry's face. "What do you think she's doing right now? Killing demons, that's what. Death is an occupational hazard of our job, Barry. You know that." Hal's face darkened slightly as his voice softened. "I know that."  
  
"Hal..." Barry flexed his hands and looked down as he fiddled with the sleeve to his suit. "I - we - what I said before, uh...before I, y'know," He made a vague gesture with his hand, "I didn't mean it. We were still 'new' and I didn't handle the whole, 'You're alive but not who you once were,' very well. I thought that we were some kind of lab experiment." Barry slumped his shoulders like the fight had been drained out of him. "I guess I wasn't wrong about that. But...but I want to stay friends. I want to _be_ friends." He bit the corner of his lip and looked up imploringly. "If you want to."  
  
Silence reigned as Barry's offer hung in the air and as it continued to stretch, he began to worry that Hal would tell him where to shove it. Barry parted his lips, about to backtrack and retract the unwanted offer until he saw Hal's features shift. Morphing from pensive and defeated to surprised and hopeful. Like he'd been waiting for Barry to say it was a joke and that he just felt sorry for Hal because he was dying.  
  
If anything, that realization only made Barry sicker to his stomach and choked him with guilt because that hesitancy was his doing. All because of what he'd said about it possibly being fabricated in the programming.  
  
"Barry -"  
  
"I mean it, Hal." he pressed. "I want to be friends."  
  
Hal pressed his lips into a thin line as he averted his gaze. He flexed his jaw before he closed his eyes. After a long, agonizing minute, he breathed, "Yeah." Hal opened his eyes to look Barry in the eye as a smile curved the edges of his mouth up. "Yeah. I want to be friends."  
  
A familiar warmth filled Barry at those words. It felt vaguely like acceptance, forgiveness and, strangely enough, home. Something he'd felt in bits and pieces before whenever he was around Hal, but now he felt it in its full intensity. As if Pandora's Box had been unlocked and Barry didn't want to close it anytime soon.  
  
If the look on Hal's face said anything, he didn't want it to either.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this fic was ambiguous in what it could be because I didn't have an endgame aside from them actually talking about the whole, "Are we still best friends?" thing Hal brought up. 'cause I felt like he was cheated out of hanging with his best bud and the new them getting to know each other. _Extremely_ cheated.
> 
> On that note: I don't know about you, but I feel at home with my friends. Though if you don't feel that way with your friends, well...I'm not here to judge. *shrugs* Everyone has different relationships with their buddies. (Hence the 'Ambiguous Relationships' tag!)


End file.
